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Inside Washington (08/04/2010)

* WASHINGTON (8/5/10)--Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appears to be pursuing efforts to end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, which will expire at year-end. “These tax cuts save more than $2,000 per year for a typical middle class family,” Geithner said Wednesday at the Center for American Progress. “But given the size of the deficits and debt that we inherited, we must provide that tax relief in a fiscally responsible way.” He said the best way to do that is by allowing the tax rate for the top 2% to go back to levels seen at the end of the 1990s, “a time of remarkable growth and economic strength.” There are some who suggest that the government should hold the tax cuts for the middle class hostage, until Congress extends the tax cuts for the top 2%--and permanently repeals the estate tax too, he added. “If the middle class tax cuts are not extended, Americans will face a sharp increase in taxes and a sharp fall in disposable income,” Geithner said. The cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President George W. Bush, will expire at year-end. President Barack Obama said he would extend the cuts beyond this year for 98% of Americans who make less than $250,000 annually, or individual filers who make under $200,000. Republicans argue that because of the economic recovery’s slowdown, the cuts should continue for wealthy Americans, too, because the group includes some small business owners who file individually (The New York Times Aug. 4) ... * WASHINGTON (8/5/10)--The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) announced that Joseph A. Jiampietro, senior adviser for markets to FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, will leave the agency Aug. 13. He has served in that position since March 2009. Before joining the FDIC, he served as managing director of the Financial Institutions Group at JP Morgan in New York ...